NBA Gets Closer to Real Deal : Basketball: Player representatives vote, 25-2, to approve agreement.

It was another labor day celebration for the NBA on Wednesday, when the 27 player representatives followed up the actions of the rank and file and voted overwhelmingly to ratify the pending collective bargaining agreement.

The decision during the 35-minute meeting in Chicago came by a 25-2 margin, with only Sacramento and Boston dissenting. The league’s two expansion teams, Toronto and Vancouver, did not have representation because their players had not met to elect a delegate before the lockout.

“We’re all smiles today,� said Charles Smith of the New York Knicks, a union vice president. “It was a long, tedious process. A long, long time waiting to get the season started.�

Barring unexpected developments, that should happen on time.

The next step is largely a formality--a vote by owners. That could come during a conference call Friday in a balloting that should be nearly as lopsided as the player representatives’ and would allow the lockout to be lifted Monday.

That leaves player challenges and possible court cases as the final hurdles.

Officials from the NBA and the National Basketball Players Assn. are still waiting to hear if the decertification forces will push on, although Commissioner David Stern all but dismissed them as a legitimate threat after union members approved the six-year deal by nearly a 226-134 margin.

Then again, Stern could have done that Sept. 7. That’s the day Michael Jordan, one of the decertification leaders, arrived at the Federal Building in Westwood to vote but without the requisite photo ID. When word that Jordan’s ballot could be disqualified was passed to the NBA offices in New York, league officials broke out in laughter.

Stern has said he doesn’t anticipate maneuvering that would prevent the league from opening training camps on Oct. 6 and the regular season Nov. 3.